Sonny Dove, St. John's Star In 1960's, Dies in Car Plunge

By GLENN FOWLER

Published: February 15, 1983

Lloyd (Sonny) Dove, a basketball star at St. John's University in the 1960's who later played professionally for the Detroit Pistons and the New York Nets, died early yesterday of injuries he suffered when a taxicab he was driving plunged into the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

Mr. Dove, who was 37 years old and lived in Brooklyn, was the fifth-highest scorer and second-ranked rebounder in St. John's basketball history. His last of three seasons as a collegian was 1966-67, when he captained a team that won 23 games and lost five.

He was born in New York, was a standout at St. Francis Prep and was among the most heavily recruited schoolboys in the city. After college, Mr. Dove, a 6-foot-8-inch forward, was the firstround draft choice of both the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association and the New Jersey Americans, who later became the Nets, of the American Basketball Association.

He spent two seasons with Detroit, then switched to the Nets, for whom he played three seasons. He averaged 11.1 points in five pro seasons, his career having been cut short by a leg injury suffered in a bicycle accident. Subsequently, he returned to St. John's and completed his studies for a bachelor's degree in communications, then worked as a television reporter in Florida. Broadcast Redmen's Games

For the last two seasons, Mr. Dove was the commentator on radio broadcasts of St. John's games over stations WGBB and WNYE-FM. His last commentary was delivered during last Wednesday's victory by St. John's over Georgetown at Landover, Md.

On Sunday evening, in his second job as a taxi driver, he was on Hamilton Avenue in South Brooklyn heading west toward the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. He apparently did not see a flagman who was stopping traffic because a drawbridge had been raised for a vessel to pass through.

According to Abel Silver, a spokesman for the city's Department of Transportation, a safety gate was inoperative because of a power failure. The cab skidded off the road and plunged 25 feet into 10 feet of water. The police of the Emergency Service Division removed Mr. Dove from the cab, and he was taken to Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead at about 3 A.M.

Mr. Silver said a preliminary investigation indicated that proper safety precautions had been taken at the drawbridge. Besides his wife, from whom he was separated, Mr. Dove is survived by a daughter, Zana.